I was out with friends this weekend, and after exchanging inane pleasantries with someone about the weather or something, our conversation changed to TV. I asked her if she was excited for the “Game of Thrones” premiere on Sunday. She said, “I haven’t actually started watching the show yet. Should I?” After resisting the urge to call my good friend Ser Ilyn Payne, I finally replied, “It’s pretty much the most awesome thing on TV.” That’s the only word I could think of to use, because while “Breaking Bad” is probably the overall best, and “Justified” definitely has the greatest hair, “Game of Thrones” is just AWESOME. It earns its “Just the Badass Parts” tag.

Even in its season two table-setting premiere, “The North Remembers,” which was relatively light with action (at least when compared to other “GoT” episodes), we were still treated to: baby murder, a fool having to drink an entire barrel of wine, a Madame teaching a prostitute how to have sex, references to incest, and Arya on a sick ox cart – all in the first five, and final five, minutes of the episode. Other highlights (and GIFs after the jump):

• Give it up for the Dink, who’s now first billed during the opening credits. He’s already won the Emmy.
• That walking pile of snake vomit, Joffrey…is not a good ruler.
• I already like Sansa more than I did all of last season.
• Hodor.
• The show is so darn gorgeous. I loved the shot of the camera spinning around Daenerys, to show her riders going off to scout three different locations. It also looks, to quote Mr. Dink, very expensive.
• Drogon, still adorable.
• Craster should really think about turning his shack into a bed & breakfast. He can use his skulls as bowls.
• Were any non-book readers confused about the Melisandre scenes? There wasn’t much set-up; writers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss expected you to follow along, and Davos the Onion Knight had a sudden entrance, too.
• We barely got to meet Stannis, but we do know he’s humorless and owns a fantastic table.
• So far, I’m most interested in the happenings at King’s Landing and North of the Wall. Rob’s never been my favorite character, though his scene with Jamie (and Grey Wind!) was tense, and Dany’s plight in the Red Waste is a bit slow. Needs. More. Dragons.
• Attractive Women of “Game of Thrones” Power Rankings, Episode 1: #5. Osha, #4. Cersei #3. Shae, #2. Daenerys, #1. Melisandre. It’s the hair.

Please discuss your favorite moments in the episode (there’s a lot I left out), but please: NO SPOILERS. If you’ve read the books, pretend you haven’t. Only discuss what happened in “The North Remembers” (believe me, it’s tough, but it can be done). Don’t ruin it for those who haven’t read A Clash of Kings.

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Hello Warming Glow. Today, for the first time since the new team took over, we get to find out where you stand on Aaron Sorkin. Let me take a stab in the dark as to what the comments might hint at: He’s a condescending pr*ck, one of the best television writers of all time, and let me guess: Someone is going to insist on holding “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” against him, while someone else will probably defend “Studio 60,” arguing that it wasn’t that bad? People will praise “West Wing,” and one or two conservatives will bash it as idealistic liberal pablum, while most will agree that “Sports Night” is one of the greatest sitcoms ever, except for a smattering of people who couldn’t get past the laugh track in the first season. Then, someone will end the thread with “YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH,” and there will be six groaning replies.

Did I just capture the essence of the comment thread? Oh, wait: I forgot two other comments: Something about Olivia Munn’s but-her face, and BRING BACK MATT.

There.

Anyway, here’s the trailer for “Newsroom,” and it will undoubtedly create some divisiveness among those who feel that it’s exactly what the world needs right now — a modern-day Network television series — and those who believe it looks like everything else Aaron Sorkin has ever done, right down to the smug arrogance. Me? I love smug arrogance, but then again, I’m an asshat. ‘MURICA!

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Season two of “Game of Thrones” premieres this coming Sunday, and to drum up some publicity — or just because they love us all dearly and want us to be happy — HBO has released six short clips from the first episode, “The North Remembers.” The clips don’t give too much away, but they should be relevant to the interests of anyone who enjoys things like quality television, graphic violence, Peter Dinklage, things that are great, and hot chicks running around with tiny dragons perched on their shoulder.

Between “Community” coming back two weeks ago, “Mad Men” premiering on Sunday, “Justified” building to an intense end to its season, and “Game of Thrones” coming back in five days, it’s a little like TV Christmas around these parts lately. You know what? I’m gonna go check to see if someone brought back “Terriers” and slipped it under the tree. It’s worth a shot, right?

[excitedly runs to check under tree]

[is wearing footie pajamas]

[sees no box containing a second season of "Terriers"]

[watches these "Game of Thrones" clips to fight off tears]

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Now everyone who keeps meaning to check out “Luck,” but hasn’t because you heard from a friend of a friend that a friend of theirs fell asleep while watching it doesn’t have to bother anymore. According to Deadline:

Luck will be no more on HBO. The pay cable network, along with Luck executive producers David Milch and Michael Mann, just announced that they’re ending the series following yesterday’s horse death, the third on the set of the horse racing drama starring Dustin Hoffman. Luck had been in the middle of production on the second episode of Season 2.

The series was facing a lot of deserved heat after, as mentioned above, a third horse, who I’ve named Clip Clop, went to the Great Glue Factory in the Sky while the show was in production. According to a veterinarian from the California Horse Racing Board, Clip Clop “was on her way back to the stall when she reared, flipped over backwards, and struck her head on the ground.” That doesn’t sound…healthy. PETA was pissed and making a fuss (they had a totally reasonable solution, too, which was to use a combination of CGI and stock footage to simulate the horse races), and “Luck” was facing a PR nightmare — combine that with mediocre ratings (500,000 viewers per episode, low even for HBO) and a lack of widespread critical support, and you’ve got a dead horse of a show. So to speak.

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Remember Danger’s post about the official rules on spoilers, and how you should wait “two weeks for a regular episode, two months for a season finale, and one year for a series finale” before ruining a show for a friend? Looks like the list is going to need a revision: “Wait until it’s shown on a poster.”

The second season premiere of “Game of Thrones” is only 18 days away (!), and HBO has released yet another promotional item. Except this one’s, like, the Tyrion of promotional items — in that it’s the best, not that it’s the smallest. The poster shows poor Ned Stark’s head on a pike, with the words “The King Can Do As He Likes” above his honorable noggin. It’s awesome, it’s effective, it makes me hate Joffrey all over again, and now I’m wondering how much Sean Bean was paid for permission to use his decapitated coconut. Best. Paycheck. Ever.

See the full thing below.

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